Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Finding an Agent

By Darvell Hunt

This week I start a scary task: Finding a mainstream national agent for my semi-LDS thriller novel.

I’ve never looked for an agent before, but that’s mostly because most of my submissions up to this point have been for the LDS market, which doesn’t deal with agents. Because of the small profit margin in the LDS niche market, agents don’t really make sense (so they say).

Now I find myself branching out into the mainstream national market with a novel that I had originally intended for LDS audiences. Why the broadening search for a publisher? Two reasons, really.

First, it’s a thriller/mild-horror LDS novel, which I think is a hard sell in the LDS market. I know plenty of LDS readers who enjoy this sort of story, but LDS publishers are hesitant, it seems, to publish material such material.

And secondly, why not? If I can get a broader readership with a novel that has LDS elements, but can still work in the national market, why not try?

I’m not postive I can go national with this novel, but I’m willing to give it a shot. Neither am I abandoning the LDS market for this work, but I do think it might have broader appeal than to just LDS readers. It seems the national market is interested in unique characters, even Christian or possibly LDS, so why not exploit that interest?

Around the Blogck

Once upon a time, a group of new writers got together and started this blog about their struggles, their aspirations, and their quest to become published authors.

Now, the better part of a decade later, we've been around awhile. We've learned far more , done more, and gone farther than we ever imagined we would!

Some joined us, some moved on, some became the published authors they always wanted to be, and some are still in the grind.

This is the record of where we've been, a textbook of what's been learned and a heartfelt memoir of experiences shared. Though the writers have moved on, the archives are here for you to peruse, and hopefully you'll find something in them to help, encourage and uplift.